On our grand European adventure we spent two days in London. Aside from the heat, it was a wonderful visit to London with kids! (There was a less-than-convenient heat wave during our time in Europe, which I definitely could have done without. The last time they had similar heat was over 20 years ago!) Here I’m sharing our favorite places from our visit to London, what we loved and what we would skip next time. Since we were only in London for two nights, this would be a great itinerary for a weekend in London with kids.
Where to Stay in London with Kids
We chose to stay in Kensington with the kids. We knew we didn’t have a lot of time in London on this trip, and we wanted to be in walking distance to the things we wanted to do. (Plus, our flight was delayed a full 17 hours so that cut down our time in the city even more.)
Kensington was great, and our hotel was right next to the park. We chose to stay at the Royal Garden Kensington partially because of its proximity to the park. There were many restaurants, bakeries, coffee shops, and other shops nearby that we could walk to. I always love when I can walk to a coffee shop in the morning on vacation! Our room was quiet and comfortable, and the room we chose was perfect for our family of 5. (We booked a Deluxe Studio room, which included a queen size bed and a pull out sofa bed. We also asked for a crib, as our youngest is still in a pack n play for sleeping on trips.)
Our London Itinerary with Kids (2 Days in London)
Day 1: We flew from Boston to London (our original flight was supposed to be the 7:30am out of Boston, but it was delayed until midnight the following morning… not ideal), arriving in London around noontime UK time. After checking into our hotel, we popped into the hotel restaurant for lunch and then decided to go out exploring. We walked over to Kensington Gardens and found the Diana Memorial Playground, which was a huge hit.
Day 2: Up for breakfast at the hotel, and then crossed the street to board the hop on/hop off Toot Bus. I didn’t realize that this bus had no air conditioning, which would not have been an issue if it was not a heat wave. We ended up getting off of it earlier than planned and seeing Buckingham Palace, then walking over to Westminster Abbey. There we had lunch at the Cellarium Cafe, and then walked over to see Big Ben and a view of the London Eye. The Natural History Museum was up next, which was a huge hit with the kids. Our youngest took a stroller nap while the big kids enjoyed all of the dinosaur information in particular. We headed back to the hotel, took a quick rest, and then met up for dinner at the Ivy, which has the cutest photo opp outside of the restaurant.
Day 3: We had a late morning flight to Corsica, so we had breakfast at the hotel again. We packed up, said our goodbyes to London, and took a taxi to the airport for our next stop on our grand European tour of the summer.
Sightseeing in London with Kids
When we travel as a family we always run on a fairly laid back schedule. We aren’t waking up at the crack of dawn to get on the first bus out somewhere (unless it’s a flight… then that’s a different story!). We planned to see the major sightseeing locations in London, including Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, Tower of London, and Kensington Palace and the gardens and public park.
We rode the Toot Bus since it was a hop on/hop off option, and I liked that they advertised information via headset for both adults and kids. This actually meant that you could plug in your headphones to your desired language, and they would tell you about the sights you’re driving by. Our kids weren’t interested in the headphones so it was just a bus ride for them. It ended up being far too hot on the bus (even with our handheld fans, which I’m SO glad we brought), so we just got off the bus around Westminster Abbey and walked.
I wasn’t sure how the kids would like the Tower of London but thought it would be a cool experience, and that my 7 year old would LOVE the Crown Jewels. Unfortunately, the Tower of London got axed from our itinerary when we lost a day due to a delayed flight. It’s definitely something we’ll check out on the next family trip to London.
We quickly stopped into Westminster Abbey with the kids, as we were visiting after lunch and it was getting late. The last entry to Westminster is around 2:30, and you have to have pre-reserved tickets unless you get lucky and find no line for tickets when you get there. It was SO hot out, but we found the Cellarium Cafe, which is underground and has air conditioning. The food was pretty good, and though they didn’t have a children’s menu we ordered the chicken and the kids were perfectly happy with that.
We were excited to try out the famed London kids park, the Diana Memorial Playground. Unaccompanied adults (without a child) are not allowed into the playground, which I appreciated. You also can’t bring alcohol, adult bikes, or any glass. Typical playground rules! The kids LOVED this park so much that we went back the next day, too. The big wooden pirate ship and sandbox was a hit, as was the water area right next to it. I was impressed at how large the park is, with climbing areas and a music area and other hidden spots among the garden. You could spend a half day (or maybe even a full day) at the Diana Memorial Playground.
They have some food available, as well as drinks and ice cream, but you could also pack food to take with you. We saw many families having a picnic in the park outside of the playground.
Other things you should know about visiting London with kids
- Very few places for sit down meals (if any- we didn’t find any!) had kids cups available, or even plastic takeaway cups with lids
- Most restaurants and bakeries use paper straws, so bring your own reusable straws if you hate paper straws like I do!
- Lots of walking involved to see the biggest sights or even just to walk around Kensington Park – consider a stroller or scooter for everyone under 7 (and a clip on stroller fan if you’re there in the summer)
- Not much air conditioning, as is the case in Europe (none on hop on hop off bus, which made us cut that tour short). I was so glad that I packed these mini fans for everyone, because they came in really handy during the entire trip! I will 100% pack these again if we take another trip to Europe in the summer.
Love this! So helpful for planning a short family trip to London.